ALBANY – Former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi appears ready to announce a run for the US Senate seat held by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, MidHudsonNews.com has learned.

The Republican Westchester County resident, who would not confirm the bid, is expected to make the announcement later this month.

DioGuardi, who was in Albany Monday attending the annual State Conservative Party political conference, spoke to delegates about the book he wrote 17 years ago, The Unaccountable Congress.

“When I wrote the book, the national debt on the books was $3 trillion,” he said. “Seventeen years, it’s now $12 trillion, and what does Obama say, that in the next 10 years, that he expects to add $10 trillion to the national debt on the books. You talk about big government; that’s $22 trillion.”

One other Democrat, former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, is expected to challenge Gillibrand in a primary.